While I'll eventually move to Linux once I get my Rpi, I would like to resolve this problem for future potential Arduino users.
Obviously, the developers of Arduino managed to resolve the issue with Windows serial communication to allow their boards to be programmed. I am hoping someone from the team can share some insight/codes on how they managed to initialize the board for reading and writing.
Or, perhaps is there a way I can execute the "Serial Monitor" once and then close it so I can access the board with PHP. Perhaps a standalone version of "Serial Monitor" from the Arduino team can be develop to run and then close.
There are, of course, plenty of alternative scripting languages that use Windows-exposed APIs to deal with the serial port that can work bi-directionally on Windows.
Or, create an executable application, instead.
Perhaps you can share with us what those programs are or how to create and executable application as I am new to the development world.
Thanks.